1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrodeless lamp, and in particular to an electrodeless lamp using Snl2 as a major component of lamp filler of an electrodeless lamp.
2. Description of the Background Art
An electrodeless lamp is a kind of a high intensity discharge lamp and has advantages in that the life span is long and light effect is better compared to the conventional fluorescent lamp, an incandescent lamp, etc. The electrodeless lamp includes a bulb formed of glass material, a lamp filler sealed in the bulb, and a mean unit for exciting the filler. In particular, the component and amount of the filler filled in the bulb greatly affect the performance of the lamp.
In the conventional electrodeless lamp, as a major component for a filler, there are Hg(mercury)(Korean Patent Publication 86-2152) and a metal halide(Korean Patent Publication 97-12953). In the case of Hg, the application of the same is decreased due to its toxicity, and in the case of a halogen metal halide, it is difficult to obtain a stable and continuous discharge spectrum for decreasing the performance of the lamp.
In another example of the conventional electrodeless lamp, as a bulb filler, there are sulfur, selenium, tellurium, or a compound mixture of the above-described materials. The U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,606,220 and 5,831,386 disclose the lamps using the above-described materials. The above-described lamps excite the filler using a microwave or a high frequency(RF) energy for thereby generating visible light. In this case, the bulb is formed of quartz glass in ball shape or cylindrical shape. A certain amount of Sulfur and inert gas such as Ar, Xe, etc. are filled into the bulb. The above-descried materials are excited by microwave or high frequency energy using a resonator or an induction coupling for enabling the filler to emit light.
The electrodeless lamp has a disadvantage in that it is difficult to emit light at the initial state. In order to overcome the above-described problem, a certain material such as Hg is added or the structure of the resonator is modified. In addition, in the case that the color temperature of emitted light is too high to give a warm and comfortable feel or the intensity of ultraviolet ray is high compared to the intensity of the visible light, in order to properly decrease the color temperature and decrease the intensity of the ultraviolet content, certain materials are added to the filler or the light emitted is reflected back to pass through the bulb. However, in the case that additives are used, the light emitting efficiency of sulfur, selenium, or tellurium is decreased, and in the case that the light emitted is reflected back, the structure of the lamp becomes complicated, so that it is difficult to fabricate the lamp, and thus the fabrication cost of the same is increased.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electrodeless lamp which has an adequate color temperature as a light source and implementing a faster light emission start-up at a lower cost without an additive.
To achieve the above objects, as a first example of the present invention, there is provided an electrodeless lamp which is characterized in that SnI2 is used as a major component filled into a bulb as a filler, and the filler is excited by applying a microwave or high frequency energy to the bulb for generating a visible light.
To achieve the above objects, as a second example of the present invention, there is provided an electrodeless lamp which is characterized in that SnI2 is used as a major component filled into a bulb as a filler, and an inert gas such as Ar, Xe, etc. is added as an assistant gas, and the filler is excited by applying a microwave or high frequency energy to the bulb for thereby generating a visible light.
To achieve the above objects, as a third example of the present invention, there is provided an electrodeless lamp which is characterized in that SnI2 is filled as a major component into a bulb as a filler, an inert gas such as Ar, Xe, etc. is added as an assistant gas, and sulfur, selenium, tellurium or metal halide material is added as an assistant material, and the filler is excited by applying a microwave or high frequency to the bulb for thereby generating a visible light.
Additional advantages, objects and features of the invention will become more apparent from the description which follows.